More notebooks with touchscreen coming next month

DigiTimes reports several notebook makers are working on notebooks with touchscreen panels, the first of these new notebooks will be released in June.

A number of branded notebook vendors are expected to launch new models with built-in touchscreen panels starting in June – a move that is likely to drastically stir up the demand for touch panels, according to James Fang, president of Taiwan-based Abon Touchsystems.

The number of tablet PCs and notebooks with a built-in touch panels totaled two million units in 2007, but the number of such products are expected to top nine million units by 2012, Fang estimated on the sidelines of the 2008 AsiaFPD held in Guangzhou from May 21-23.

In the handset segment, the number of mobile phones with a built-in touch panels is expected to surpass 500 million units, accounting for over 30% of handsets sold globally, Fang predicted.

Citing data from iSuppli, Fang also noted that a total of 1.1 million UMPCs (ultra mobile PCs) will come equipped with a built-in touch panel by 2012.